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Since 1999, there have been 15 beautiful and bizarre sculptures that have taken residence on top of Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth. It’s been home to a big blue cockerel, a horse skeleton, an enormous thumbs up and a winged bull, and right now it’s occupied by Teresa Margolles’s ‘Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant)’, a homage to the existence of trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.
However, that piece’s stint on the plinth is almost over. Soon, it’ll be removed to make way for the 16th Fourth Plinth Commission: ‘Lady in Blue’ by New York based artist Tschabalala Self. The new 10ft sculpture will be unveiled in Trafalgar Square on September 10.
Self’s piece has been in the queue for the plinth for a while, having been chosen by the Fourth Plinth commissioning group (alongside votes from the public) back in 2024. It depicts a woman of colour striding in a blue dress and heels, who is meant to represent a metropolitan everywoman that ‘many can relate to’. She’s made from bronze and patinated with a rare vivid pigment called lapis lazuli blue, which has been used since antiquity.
Self said that the ‘Lady in Blue’ is ‘not an idol to venerate or a historic figurehead to commemorate. She is a woman striding forward into our collective future with ambition and purpose. She is a Londoner who represents the city’s spirit.’
The artist added: ‘I have London to thank for so many milestones in my practice. I had my first institutional show here, and later the first presentation of my first major painting series. The city has truly supported my artistic development and is the best possible home for this powerful figure.’
The Lady will remain on the plinth for 18 months until 2028. Then, it’ll hand the spot over to Andra Ursuţa’s ‘Untitled’, a spectral green horseman made of resin.
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